The Coast Guard at about 3 p.m. today suspended its search for the 16-year-old swimmer missing off the Fort Morgan Peninsula.

The missing boy is Conrad Charleston Hathcoat, according to
the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, which was assisting in the search.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Matthew Carlin said the Fort Morgan Volunteer Fire Department remains on the scene searching the beach with ATVs. Carlin said a Coast Guard model shows that any object that is in the near-shore area of the Gulf should be pushed toward the share, but "it's very hard to figure out where it might be going."

Earlier today, a Coast Guard helicopter had resumed the search for Hathcoat. Carlin said that a helicopter based at Aviation Training Center Mobile reached the scene about noon, and did not immediately spot the missing swimmer. He was swept into the Gulf Of Mexico by a rip tide late Sunday afternoon.

Carlin said the Coast Guard was delayed in launching a helicopter from its base at Aviation Training Center Mobile, located at Mobile Regional Airport, because of the squally weather that accompanied the remains of Tropical Storm Lee

"We've been trying to launch it since sunrise," Carlin said earlier, before the search was suspended.

The incident took place near The Beach Club resort, which faces the Gulf of Mexico on Fort Morgan Peninsula between Gulf Shores and Fort Morgan in southwest Baldwin County.

According to Maj. Anthony Lowery, spokesman for the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, three 16-year-olds were near the shore when a large wave and rip current pulled two of them out to sea.

Lowery said one youth was able to make his way back to shore with the help of rescuers on the beach. The other teen’s mother went into the surf after her son, but she also had to be rescued, Lowery said.

Other beach goers and family members also tried to rescue the teen, but waves estimated at 10 feet made it impossible, Lowery said.

Hathcoat was staying at the Beach Club with his parents, Charles and Connie Hathcoat, other family members along with the two other 16-year-old boys, according to Lowery.

Lowery said in an e-mail to news media this afternoon that another of the teens is identified as Jack Bush of Hoover. He was transported from the scene to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released to his father.

James said that at one point five people, including the missing youth’s father, ended up in the water.

Red flags flying at Gulf Shores beachThis short video clip shows red warning flags in Gulf Shores, Ala., on Monday, Sept. 5, 2011, informing visitors and residents that the water is closed to the public.